MT Engage celebrates student participation with inaugural reception

MT Engage, MTSU’s most recent Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP, is igniting interest in students across academic disciplines wanting to further their education beyond the classroom.

The program honored students who completed at least one 2016-17 MT Engage course with the first MT Engage Student Reception, held Thursday, April 20, in the Tom H. Jackson Building. Students received refreshments, complimentary professional photos for the early arrivers and tokens of appreciation, including water bottles and T-shirts.

Students taking MT Engage courses were treated to T-shirts, refreshments and complimentary professional headshots at the inaugural MT Engage Student Reception held Thursday, April 20, in the Tom H. Jackson Building. (MTSU photo by Jimmy Hart)

An MTSU student displays one of the T-shirts that MT Engage program participants received at the inaugural MT Engage Student Reception held Thursday, April 20, in the Tom H. Jackson Building. Student participants also received water bottles, refreshments and complimentary professional photos. (MTSU photos by Jimmy Hart)

The event also allowed the 80-plus students who attended to ask questions about what to expect if they continue with MT Engage, which has a motto of “engage academically, learn exponentially, showcase yourself.”

University Studies professor Scott McDaniel, assessment coordinator for MT Engage, noted that students who enroll in MT Engage-based classes receive hands-on experience that allows them to apply the knowledge they already have.

“My colleague who teaches statistics had her students go to ‘Scholars Week’ and report on some of the posters and statistics that were used there, and they had to reflect on it,” McDaniel said.

Program officials expect students in these courses to learn and/or develop skills in self-assessment and reflection and connect their new knowledge to their experience.

“Other things we want professors to try to instill in students (are) making connections between disciplines, from statistics to biology or from history to English and even history to statistics,” he said.

McDaniel shared one exciting aspect of MT Engage called the e-Portfolio, an electronic record created by students throughout their academic journey to serve as an important tool in marketing themselves toward a career or graduate degree.

University Studies professor Scott McDaniel, right, assessment coordinator for MT Engage, checks in a student at the inaugural MT Engage Student Reception held Thursday, April 20, in the Tom H. Jackson Building.

“It’s hard to assess someone’s knowledge from just one snapshot,” he said. “Now we enter the e-Portfolio.”

As McDaniel explained, the e-Portfolio digitally adds completed works through a student’s time at MTSU, allowing them to create presentations for different audiences or future employers.

“Say they want to apply for a job and send not only their resume but also their e-Portfolio — it’s like the next best thing to meeting me.”

Current and future students will be able to learn more about the benefits of the latest QEP and the future of MT Engage during MT Engage Week, which will be held in September, and during through CUSTOMS new student orientations.

The QEP is a requirement by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, or SACSCOC, the regional accreditation body for higher education institutions in the South.

Also joining McDaniel at the reception were MT Engage Director Mary Hoffschwelle, who also is an MTSU history professor, and assistant director Lexy Denton.

Hoffschwelle said the student reception will become an annual event.

For more information about MT Engage, visit http://mtsu.edu/mtengage, email mtengage@mtsu.edu or call 615-904-8281.

— Jayla Jackson (news@mtsu.edu)

Students enjoy refreshments at the inaugural MT Engage Student Reception held Thursday, April 20, in the Tom H. Jackson Building. (MTSU photo by Jimmy Hart)

Students enjoy refreshments at the inaugural MT Engage Student Reception April 20 in the Tom H. Jackson Building.

MTSU Creative and Visual Services photographer Andy Heidt photographs an MT Engage student during the inaugural MT Engage Student Reception April 20 in the Tom H. Jackson Building.

Students enjoy refreshments at the inaugural MT Engage Student Reception held Thursday, April 20, in the Tom H. Jackson Building.

Students were eligible for door prizes at the inaugural MT Engage Student Reception held Thursday, April 20, in the Tom H. Jackson Building. (MTSU photo by Jimmy Hart)

This photo shows some of the door prizes students were eligible to receive at the inaugural MT Engage Student Reception in the Tom H. Jackson Building.